Getting really frustrated

Daisy253

Hi guys,

I could really do with some advise!!!

I have been lifting for a yr now and although my progress was slow, partly due to my own issues I have now fully committed to a progressive overload training regime and have increased my lifts by a lot in the last 2 months. I am following strong curves program.

My problem is I am not seeing changes in my lower body for the better at all, if anything I am getting skinnier and softer in areas. I am not sure where I am going wrong. However my upper half seems to like to hold muscle well but this is not the areas I am concerned with.

I have been eating 1570 cals per day since jan, set at sedentary for maintenance and do 4 weight sessions a week and one cardio boot camp type class per week. I do not eat my exercise cals back mostly. I decided to lower my cals from previously to see if I could drop the fat off my stomach and butt. I really want a squat butt and this is my biggest frustration as I just can't seem to create that nice round shape. Do I just have to accept my body may not be designed to have that shape??

I am 53kg
169cm tall
35yr old female.
Body fat by calipers is around 19

Routine is usually but can change around.

Mon- abs 45 minutes ( all weighted exercises)
- Tues- lower
- Wed - upper
- Thursday- boot camp
- Friday - lower
- Sunday- cycle usually about 6 ks.

Squat 45kg
Hip thrust 50kg
Deadlift 45kg
bench is pathetic 15kg

Advise greatly appreciated, I am ready to just give up!!!

jackielou867

I have opposite problem, had to change to strength for lower as legs were getting too big, but upper body seems to have regressed in size and stalled in strength, so I'm in for the advice.
I especially would like to increase bench press. Took me all last year to get from 30 to 35kg and with no spotter I'm not confident to go a whole 5kg more, and that is the smallest increment at the gym.
Your calories seem a little low though, I am 48, 172 cm 65kg and I am on 2100 to maintain.
I don't think you can choose where to lose the fat, from what I read better to build some muscle which requires a little extra food. If you are working hard and not eating enough your body seems to burn your muscle before your fat. This is what I read and it seems to be the case for me. Finding the right balance has proved the hardest part of the journey for me.

andylllI

I'm following strong curves too but it's a three workout a week full body program hitting the glutes every workout. It appears from your post that you are doing an upper and lower split? Can you lets the group know in detail what you are doing and how long you have been doing it?

I agree with a bit more food. I've been doing SC for a month eating at maintenance/ slight deficit and random weight training before that and in 3 months I took 3 cm off waist and 3 cm gain around hips/bum with noticably better definition. I am working hard at trying to keep in a small deficit to drop 1-2% of bf (currently 20%). Am I happy with how slowly it seems to be going? No. But at least it's going.

If you are 19% bf maybe changing your focus to put more muscle there would bring you closer to your physique goals. Agree with a bit more food...and follow SC the way it's written and see if that helps.

As for the bench press problem...have you tried asking for a spot? I find the curl-bros at the gym totally intimidating *until I talk to them* and realize that most are rather nice normal people. Although at my gym it's a novelty if a woman has plates on the bar for bench press and I'm old enough to be their teen mom which helps.

SideSteel

One reason you are not seeing changes is that it takes a damn long time to build muscle.

Are you currently losing weight, gaining weight, or maintaining weight?

Type out your calorie and macronutrient intake in grams please (not percent).
Let me know what your body-weight has done in the past 4-6 weeks.

Daisy253

Hi all,

I am following strong curves but have split the exercises into lower one day and upper the next sort of thing, still same exercises but I find recovery better if I work this way, And I added an ab day myself. I can only work out in my home gym and on my own so unfortunately no spotter for me to improve my bench at this time. My upper body is fine though, so not too concerned about that at the moment. I do hip thrust everyday I workout so am hitting the glutes often.

It seems I am maintaining my weight right now over the last 4-6 weeks but that was happening at 1700 cals and 1800 also?? Dropping my cals I hoped would see me lose some fat and weights would help me not lose the muscle during.

Side steel, what do you mean by macro intake in grams?? Is that how it's written on MFP at the bottom?? My diary is open if anyone wants to look. Have changed calories back to 1750 today as I am starving and no motivation to w/o see how that goes again for a while.

SideSteel

How much have your lifts gone up in the past month or two? I'd like to see how you are applying progressive overload.

Are you using a food scale when you track your intake?

What method did you use to assess your body-fat percentage?


If you had to choose between gaining some muscle and perhaps a small amount of fat along with it, or lose fat with the potential to also lose a little bit of lean mass which one would you choose right now based on your current physique?

Daisy253

Thanks for all the response!!

My lifts have gone up by about 13kg over about 3 months, except for bench as for reasons stated above.

I am adding another 5kg tomorrow see how that goes.

I am weighing and measuring all foods or go by labels and divide into portions so I am pretty sure I am tracking as closely to correctly as I can.

My pt used calipers to measure my bodyfat.

I am thinking I may feel more comfortable building more muscle first then hoping when I drop calories again it will be easier to lose the fat off my stubborn areas??
I don't think I currently can afford to lose any muscle mass really unless I want to look stick thin, which is not my aim.

CoachFrenchie

I have an extremely muscular body now; my quads and hamstrings are really developped. I lift heavy, but as a female, i get the best results for muscles from the stairmaster after my strenght routine. With weights on my shoulders, and not touching the side bars for 20 mtes at good speed. Your quads and hamstrings will develop in no time... But I also eat a lot. Pure protein, plant based, always. Muscles need protein to grow. There is no if or but about that.

SideSteel

I have some thoughts on this. I'll post a video reply soon.

SideSteel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioWzsFS2Qgw&feature=youtu.be


I'll add in that if you decide to add in calories I'd probably go a bit slowly, about 100 calories at a time and monitor weight, repeat as needed to find maintenance/low surplus.

Daisy253

Thank you soooooo much for that!!!! This group is awesome.

Funnily enough today I wrote out my plan for the week and did distribute the ab stuff over my other workouts, will stick with that.

Ok, taking photos today for yr comparison. Will bring cals to about 1650 and monitor from there.
I can see that I was looking for quick results that just aren't realistic, I understand much better now.

Thank you again

Daisy253

So, quick update!! I upped my calories to 1650 and feel so much better for it. Lifts have gone up in small increments this week and I have been able to add more reps to some exercises!!

Also, not sure if it's just my perception but I feel like I have dropped some fat all of a sudden. Not sure if it was the lower cals catching up to me or upping cals that have done it. Either way i am happy

Daisy253

Another update. Calories up to 1750 and BAM I have progress!!!!! Body fat has dropped and muscle definition is starting to show through, I don't think I look skinny fat anymore and I have a butt!!! Woohoo. Eating more rocks..... I say that as I eat yummy cookies and cream icecream I have more energy, feel stronger, lifts are going up steadily etc. I don't weigh anymore than I did but my body has changed a lot.

All I can see is upwards from here on in, and to think I was about to give up before I found this group!!

Thank you

nossmf

jackielou867 wrote: »

I especially would like to increase bench press. Took me all last year to get from 30 to 35kg and with no spotter I'm not confident to go a whole 5kg more, and that is the smallest increment at the gym.

How many reps are you doing? When I lift, I set myself a range of reps, say 8-10. Any given week I go in to the gym, I may be feeling stronger that week and get 10 reps, or I may be feeling off and only get 8. As I get stronger I will get 10's more often. My goal is to get 10 reps for every set in consecutive workouts; one workout may just have been the perfect storm of sleep, energy and whatnot, so I want to see me hitting max reps twice in a row before I feel confident in going heavier. I will go up in weight the next workout but expect to see a drop in reps.

For example, let's say you can bench press 35kg for three reps consistently. You may be ready to try for 40kg for a single rep, with a spotter for safety and self-confidence. You'd be surprised how much having a spotter can help you believe in yourself. If however your best one-rep max is 35kg, I would not try for 40kg just yet, but instead stick where you are until you can do 35kg for multiple reps before trying to go heavier.